War Within - Virginia Francisco

[Larry Robinson]

War Within
 
My heart is besieged
missiles of greed falling
on tender intentions
leaving behind nothing but devastation.
Not long ago
this was a place of contentment.
Now despair and hopelessness
smoulder away amidst fumes of alienation.
The war tanks of compulsion
are heading toward hope.
Courage and fierceness
say they will not bulge, but hold their ground.
The fragile children of innocence
have fled, with their phone numbers
scribbled on their skin.
And the wise elders of understanding and acceptance
are too old to go
nor are they willing to. 
>From the turret of witnessing
watching the tidal waves
of soldiers and refugees come and go
- all misplaced.
And here in this silent space
so silent
that the sighs of pained hearts
shake its walls.

	- Virginia Francisco